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U.S. charitable giving increased 3.3% to US$593 billion in 2024, lifted by the energy of the economic system.
The annual report from the Giving USA Foundation, produced in partnership with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, discovered that this was the second-highest stage on document after adjusting for inflation.
Giving grew on the quickest tempo since 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic led many Americans to make larger-than-usual donations. It was additionally the primary time since then that development in giving outpaced inflation.
As two of the report’s lead researchers, we see many indicators of wholesome development in charitable giving in 2024. Our information reveals that the strong economy, which grew 2.8% in 2024, bolstered particular person and company giving and allowed foundations to keep up the traditionally excessive stage of giving seen from them in recent times.
It additionally helped that stock markets performed well in 2024, consumer sentiment was generally positive, personal income rose and inflation continued to ease.
Donations to just about each charitable class we observe grew.
People and Firms Led Total Progress
Particular person donors continued to supply the majority of the nation’s charitable presents. The $392 billion they gave to charity accounted for two-thirds of the yr’s complete. Giving by people grew 5.1% from 2023 – a swifter tempo than for all donations.
Company giving rose even quicker. It was up 6% to a document $44 billion.
This development displays the high pretax profits earned by corporations in 2024 and the pattern towards companies donating a better share of pretax income in recent times.
For instance, companies typically donated lower than 1% of pretax income from 2004-2018. However our analysis crew began to see company giving rise to 1% or extra within the 2019 information. This was additionally the case in 2024, when company giving stood at 1.1% of pretax income.
Company philanthropy has grown by greater than 50% since 2019, a pattern that has coincided with rising in-kind donations of insulin products and different prescribed drugs. Drugmakers made an estimated $24 billion in these donations in 2024 – up 41% since 2019.
To make certain, companies’ donations amounted to simply 7% of total giving in 2024.
In the meantime, grants made by foundations exceeded $100 billion for the third straight yr. Virtually $1 out of each $5 contributed to charity was from a basis in every of these years.
Giving by foundations within the 5 years ending in 2024 was larger than some other interval since Giving USA has tracked this information. Basis giving, nonetheless, remained pretty flat from 2023 to 2024, at about $110 billion.
Round 8% of all presents made in 2024 had been from bequests included in people’s wills, the identical as in 2023. Bequests totaled $44 billion, down 4.4% when adjusted for inflation. However the complete given by means of bequests varies fairly a bit from yr to yr.
Most Sorts of Donations Elevated
Donations to a lot of the 9 charitable classes Giving USA tracks elevated. The one exception: Presents to church buildings and different spiritual establishments fell 1%. However spiritual giving remained by far the highest class, adopted by human companies and schooling.
Non secular causes obtained 23% of all donations, a complete of $147 billion. Giving to human companies nonprofits, corresponding to meals banks and homeless shelters, elevated significantly through the pandemic. It now accounts for about 14% of all donations. In 2024, these presents totaled $91 billion.
Giving to schooling, which primarily consists of donations to colleges and universities has tended to develop extra slowly than total giving in recent times.
Giving for schooling rebounded to a document excessive in 2024, nonetheless, rising practically 10% from a yr earlier. And these presents have grown at a fast tempo over the previous decade, rising by greater than 22% from 2015 to 2024. The $88 billion in presents obtained for schooling in 2024 was the third-largest of the 9 classes we comply with.
A number of different classes additionally reached all-time highs of giving in 2024: well being, at $61 billion; arts, tradition and humanities, at $25 billion; and atmosphere and animals, at $22 billion.
The will increase in giving for many sorts of nonprofits, supported by sturdy development in giving by people and companies, point out that the charitable sector ended 2024 in a comparatively strong place.